“http://www.giornaledibarganews.com/2011/08/07/piazza-in-castelnuovo-closed-for-vintage-40s-50s-show/
This Friday the main piazza in Castelnuovo Garfagnana was shut to traffic for the evening as the Cafe Centrale organise a very successful evening all based around the theme of Vintage 40′s -50′s.
More than 100 people, many of them dressed specially for the occasion in clothes from the 40s or 50s sat down together at tables set out in the middle of the piazza as they watched the concert based around the music from that era. Three vintage cars packed in the piazza added to the feel of other times and who better to entertain the crowd than Barga’s very own specialists of music from the post-war generation ? of course it could be none other than - Emma e gli Aristodemos.
The band played 25 gigs last year in and around this area and quickly built up a strong following but this year they have been more or less absent from the local scene - no sign of them at the Festa del Centro Storico for instance in Barga and so the concert in Castelnuovo was eagerly awaited by their fans. They were not disappointed as Emma and her band pumped out some well polished classic Italian swing from the 40′s and 50′s right through the evening before finishing off with a much more modern number - a tear jerking swing version of a song by the recently deceased Amy Winehouse.”

“http://www.giornaledibarganews.com/2011/05/19/home-movies-of-barga-from-50-years-ago-released/
An intriguing glimpse back more than 50 years into the daily life of the Barga came to light this week with the arrival of a DVD in the office of the giornaledibarganews. The title of the DVD was Barga 1957 to 1960 and the contents were exactly that, an hour-long glimpse of just what it was like to live in the city at the end of the 1950s and the start of the 1960s.
The DVD was the work of Pietro Tonacci who has painstakingly edited and compiled many of the films shot in Barga using an eight millimetre camera by his father, Alessio.
Alessio Tonacci left Barga in the late 40′s, emigrating to the USA but returned for annual holidays a decade later and each time he arrived he would film his home town to take back to show his friends and relations in the states.”

“http://www.barganews.com/2011/03/08/a-room-for-the-equal-opportunities-commission/
The 8th of March is the International Women’s Day. This civil holiday was born as a political event, and over the course of years blended into the culture of many countries, to the point that in some celebrations, the day has lost its political flavour. The symbol of the day is the yellow mimosa and expression of female solidarity. The origin of the custom is lost, but it is said to have started in Rome after World War II. Men began giving the mimosa to their partners, friends, co-workers and family give to their significant others, colleagues, mothers and sisters blossoming branches of this tree. Scent of mimosas fills the air and reminds every one not only the meaning of this day, but also that spring is nearing.”

“http://www.barganews.com/2011/03/02/full-gluten-free-menu-now-available-in-fornaci-di-barga/
There have been a number of great leaps forward for people in this area suffering from Celiac disease, also known as gluten intolerance, in the last couple of months. In October last year there was a stand at Barga Cioccolata specially set up by the Associazione Italiana Celiachia sezione MediaValle e Garfagnana with the Chef, Marco Scaglione ( interview here ) In January this year there was a very interesting culinary and social experiment when many schools in the area served up to their pupils a gluten free menu. The comunes of Barga, Borgo a Mozzano, Coreglia and Fabbriche di Vallico all took part in the one day experiment to publicise and make more widely known the problems that gluten intolerant people have to put up with on a daily basis and also just how far the advances have been made recently in gluten free cooking. Once upon a time it was a very boring diet, but these days a completely balanced diet is possible and still be gluten free.
Proof of that can now be seen in Fornaci di Barga where the trattoria La Bionda di Nonna Mary is now offering to their clients a complete gluten free menu daily. No website for the moment but they can be contacted on 0583 75624 – shut on Wednesday’s”

“song played in Aristo's this evening by Luca Giovacchini on guitar, Fabio Guazelli on guitar and Keane on Irish drum ... this is dedicated to Mark Rock for all the great work on audioboo .... thank you that man ”

“http://www.barganews.com/2011/02/19/m%E2%80%99illumino-di-meno-at-aristos/
18th February is the National Saving Energy Day, “M’illumino di meno” which is held each year in Italy when people try out various systems that visibly show that they are attempting to save energy. The campaign was launched by the Italian radio programme Caterpillar in 2005 and seeks to reduce private and public energy use. During its annual awareness-raising day, individuals and organisations are asked to make a symbolic gesture of support by switching off lights and all other non-vital electrical devices powered by non-renewable energy sources. This year, the campaign also encourages switching on lights from renewable sources.
The lights that normally illuminate many national monuments in Rome and Milano will be switched off to “highlight” this attempt at saving energy on a large scale.
Here in Barga, for the fifth year running, Aristo’s bar joined in and switched off the lights for the evening and instead turning to candle power to keep the dark at bay.”

“http://www.barganews.com/2011/02/19/m%E2%80%99illumino-di-meno-at-aristos/
18th February is the National Saving Energy Day, “M’illumino di meno” which is held each year in Italy when people try out various systems that visibly show that they are attempting to save energy. The campaign was launched by the Italian radio programme Caterpillar in 2005 and seeks to reduce private and public energy use. During its annual awareness-raising day, individuals and organisations are asked to make a symbolic gesture of support by switching off lights and all other non-vital electrical devices powered by non-renewable energy sources. This year, the campaign also encourages switching on lights from renewable sources.
The lights that normally illuminate many national monuments in Rome and Milano will be switched off to “highlight” this attempt at saving energy on a large scale.
Here in Barga, for the fifth year running, Aristo’s bar joined in and switched off the lights for the evening and instead turning to candle power to keep the dark at bay.”

“http://www.barganews.com/2011/02/13/anti-berlusconi-petition-gaining-ground/
The grass roots movement that has gradually been growing in Italy recently to force Silvio Berlusconi to resign came to Barga this morning with a stand organised by the local Partito Democratico di Barga collecting signatures for a petition demanding the resignation of the Premier Silvio Berlusconi following allegations he paid for sex with a 17-year-old girl and used his office to cover it up.
The 74-year-old Berlusconi has rejected such calls and insisted again Saturday that early elections would do "grave damage" to the country as it tries to emerge from the recession. The premier has denied he paid for sex and accused prosecutors of seeking to drive him from office.
Despite the wet weather, the stand was well attended this morning with hundreds of signatures already on the list by midday. In attendance were the Senatore Andrea Marcucci, l'Onorevole Raffaella Mariani, i Consiglieri Regionali Ardelio Pellegrinotti and Marco Remaschi, il Sindaco di Barga Marco Bonini and many other local politicians and councillors.
The campaign to oust Berlusconi from power got a boost recently with a conference in the Milan sports stadium with some of Italy's notable left-leaning intellectuals, including Umberto Eco and anti-mafia author Roberto Saviano, as well as union leaders and others, addressing the crowd. Organizers said more than 100,000 people had signed a petition calling for Berlusconi to resign.
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Also present on the stand was a chair from the very successful art exhibition held in this area last year called CHAIRART. This chair featured a face which many people took to be a caricature of Berlusconi.
Although popular with many of the people signing the petition, very few actually wanted to sit on the chair. Senatore Andrea Marcucci for instance claiming that the teeth gave him reason enough not to sit.
On a more serious note, listen to the interview that he gave barganews this morning as he talks about democracy in action and what many people feel is the national shame felt in Italy concerning the events of the past few months.”